Duitsland | Natuur en thema

The 2018 project will focus on the diversity of the cultural landscape Upper Middle Rhine Valley and illustrate – both during the hands-on part and the educational part – different aspects of the maintenance of the World Heritage site. The first week will be dedicated to the cultural aspects of the site and will take place at Marksburg Castle. During the practical work the participants will work in the outer bailey of the castle to make a new museum area in the heritage site accessible for visitors. In the frame of the educational part the participants will gain background knowledge about Marksburg Castle itself, but also about the different uses of fortresses from the Middle Age till nowadays as well as about the potentials and challenges of the conservation, the restoration and the management of historical complexes in general. The second week will be dedicated to the traditional dry stone walls that are outstanding characteristics of the cultural landscape Upper Middle Rhine Valley, but are partly in a very bad state. In Spay, a small town on the left bank of the Rhine, some years ago a very active citizens initiative had been founded that cares for the local environment. In cooperation with this initiative and under the professional guidance of experienced craftsmen the volunteers will restore damaged parts of the historical dry stone walls along a highly frequented hiking trail crossing the former wine yards. The study part will provide the theoretical background and additional knowledge about this traditional technique. The project will be carried out in the frame of the UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers initiative.

shared rooms with beds, warm showers, toilets, The meals will be prepared together as they are part of the community life, what means that everybody will be responsible for the meal at least once during its stay. So it would be very nice if you could bring typical recipes from home in order to introduce each other to the preparation of food from all over the world.

The cultural landscape Upper Middle Rhine Valley is an outstanding organic cultural landscape that includes a rich diversity of both cultural and environmental aspects and enables so a big variety of interventions by volunteering activities. The 65 kilometres long stretch of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, with its castles, historic towns and vineyards, graphically illustrates the long history of human involvement with a dramatic and varied natural landscape. It is intimately associated with history and legend and for centuries has exercised a powerful influence on writers, artists and composers. The terracing of its steep slopes in particular has shaped the landscape in many ways for more than two millennia. However, this form of land-use is under threat from the socio-economic pressures of the present day. The conservation of the area is partly in a bad state because of the fact that a lot of the former vineyards are out of use, that the maintenance both of the dry stone walls and the biotopes is physically demanding and that the knowledge about traditional techniques is disappearing. A dominant of the Rhine scenery is Marksburg Castle – the only medieval stronghold on the hills along the Middle Rhine which has never been destroyed. The value and the significance of Marksburg Castle can be found in particular in its complete preservation as a medieval fortress. The impressive stronghold with most buildings dating back to the 13th to 15th century consists of wall rings containing keep, residential buildings, baileys and bastions all on top of a hill above the small romantic town of Braubach, and with its interesting, typical interior rooms such as castle kitchen, great hall, bedchamber, chapel, armoury, wine cellar and battlements it allows to travel back into the Middle Ages. Marksburg is the seat of the German Castles’ Association. The association considers itself an association of curators and friends of national monuments from all groups of society and professions and is also an umbrella organisation supporting initiatives for individual monuments.